Cthulhu_Wakes
Black Sun in a White World
There is a place Named Barsaive. Old and steeped in a rich history reaching back over a thousand years. It was a much more vibrant, lively place full of the light of wisdom and towering kingdoms. There was an empire, Thera, that ruled these lands and its people after years of growing need for magical resources. But that was before the Scourge, a time when unearthly, life-hungry Horrors flooded the world from the darkest parts of the Netherworlds and for four hundred years, the world was ravaged and changed as its inhabitants cowered below the earth in magically sealed kaers which protected some, but became the tombs of many as the Horrors were more cunning, more numerous, and more tenacious than anyone had ever predicted.
Magic permeates the whole world of Earthdawn. It literally defines you as a person. Everything has a Pattern. Magical items, your class (called, in and out of game, a Discipline), your Name, all is imbued with magic and your own ability to weave threads. In this world, magical items can grow out of your very own items you carry. Weaving a thread to an item—personal or an artifact of Legend—grows its own Legend or furthers an original one. The whole game is built around your own personal Legend. It grows as you grow and your name goes far and wide across towns, cities, Barsaive, perhaps even the wider, unknown world.
The Namegivers of the world (dwarfs, the most populous and forward thinking; orks, former chattel slaves and reclaiming their lost nation of Cara Fahd; humans, diverse and handy as ever; t’skrang, the flamboyant lizard folk of the Serpent River; obsidimen, the strange and wondrous elemental beings; elves, proud, old, and shattered as a cultural whole; trolls, noted raiders and philosophers; and windlings; two foot tall winged humanoids who find constant joy in all things) sheltered in their kaers and citadels, waiting out the horrors and Horrors for 400 years. The Theran Empire, the literal center of magical might in the world had given them the means to know when the world would become safe again—a simple spell, a ball of True earth suspended over True water, slowly descending as the magical flush of the world faded. Less magic meant less ability for the Horrors to sustain themselves in the world and thus driving them out, when suddenly, 400 years into what was thought to be 500 years of Scourge, the ball in each kaer had suddenly stopped. Hovering an inch over the water, the world’s magical field stabilized.
People, cautious at first, broke into a fiercely changed and wounded world. Horrors still skittered about, feeding on the pain and suffering of Namegivers, but this was a world to be retaken. The regain the glories lost and to see the sun again. So, fast forward a century to the present day. War has settled on the land as Thera has come to reclaim its province and the mighty dwarven kingdom of Throal has rallied the province against their tyranny. There are kaers to rediscover; Horrors remain in the ruins of the world, waiting to feed, for souls to take; great national intrigues; a whole world to rediscover in Barsaive alone. What shall your Legend say of you in the centuries to come?
This is the elevator pitch I almost always use when presenting new people to this marvelous, under-represented game. Earthdawn is one of my old loves in my career as a gamer. One of the Ur Fantasy games and a great response to D&D and its tropes.
Just looking for interest right now. This game won't go up until mid- to late June, maybe later. A new Edition will hit in early-late July, but that won't stop me from running a game. It will start with a group of Adepts just opening their kaer to Barsaive. A nice way to introduce people to setting and elements with little fuss in perhaps the most classic intro campaign for Earthdawn.
Any and all questions about the game, system, setting, lay 'em on me.
@Inquisitor Muhaha
